The Nine Fold Heaven

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Authors: Mingmei Yip
Tags: General Fiction
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till all the guests left.”
    But, of course, I was not going to stay. Keeping men in suspense creates mystery and increases desire. This is one of the Thirty-six Stratagems, yuqin guzong, “release in order to capture.” More to the point is the Ming dynasty’s Guide for Whores, which says, “Wives are less tempting than concubines, concubines are less tempting than prostitutes, prostitutes are less tempting than someone else’s wife, but most alluring of all is the woman you failed to seduce.”
    The more doses of mystery you feed a man, the harder he’d fall for you. But why was I even thinking about this? The reason I returned here was to find my true love, Jinying, and our son, Jinjin. Maybe that was my training, or even my nature, that I’d try to seduce any man, or woman, who might be useful to me.
    Can a woman love more than one man at the same time? Well, why not, considering what men do? Chinese history is filled with famous scholars who deemed themselves fengliu caizi, “followers of the wind,” artistic men who bestowed their love on not just one, but a whole entourage of talented, beautiful ladies.
    A good example was the Ming dynasty scholar Qian Qianyi, who, bored with his dull wife, took for his concubine the beautiful and brilliant Liu Rushi, who not only graced his bed but helped him compose his books on Chinese history. Then there was the high official Hong Wenqing, ambassador to four countries, who took the courtesan Sai Jinhua, a politically brilliant woman who once saved the Empress Dowager from an invading army. And many men whose inamorata may not have been particularly talented but brought them happiness anyway. And yet all these men did not entirely lose their affection for their first wives, who, after all, had run their households and borne their children.
    Unlike the first wives selected by the man’s parents, these women were spirited and unconventional. They interacted freely with men, enjoyed wine, traveled on horseback, could entertain by singing, dancing, or playing musical instruments—and excelled in the arts of the bedchamber.
    If a man can love different women, why can’t a woman have more than one love? Not because she doesn’t want to, or cannot, but because society will denounce her. And worse, her own man-poisoned mind will not let her.
    But I was not a proper, decent, or married woman. The rules didn’t apply to a rootless, homeless, relentless skeleton woman like me. So I could follow my heart’s desires wherever they led me.
    But on this occasion, following my heart meant stringing Miller along for a while longer. So when the party finished, I politely turned down his offer to stay overnight at the consulate but agreed to let him drive me back. Not all the way to the orphanage, but let off a few blocks away. My reason was the usual—I couldn’t afford to be seen with a foreigner.
    After Miller pulled up at the corner, he leaned over to kiss me. Although his lips merely brushed mine, I could feel the heat of his desire as if he imagined it was my nipples that he kissed. One more man had fallen into my trap. But though I was proud that I had not lost my touch, I felt not so much excited as confused, not knowing if seducing yet another man would be good karma or bad.
    The sensation of the kiss clung to my lips like an insect that could not be brushed away.

7
    River Cruise
    T he next morning, I was jolted when I read Rainbow Chang’s Leisure News gossip column:

    Has the Heavenly Songbird Alighted?
     
    Yesterday, one of my Pink Skeleton girls reported back to me some exciting news!
    At the American Consul General’s garden reception, a young Chinese singer surprised the partygoers with her beautiful voice. My source said that this singer looked a lot like our beloved, but disappeared, Heavenly Songbird Camilla. But how could it be her?
    If Camilla, the ultimate cunning skeleton woman, flew away from Shanghai, why would she come back?
    Curious, isn’t it, that she

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